No, Never Goodbye
by embers-of-the-flame
Summary: Here, I am at his grave, tears streaming from my eyes. He only got to see me cry once, he told me not to cry. I tried not to for the longest time, but... it was the hardest thing I've ever tried to do. "I'm sorry." I whispered, as the tears started to fall down even harder then before.


Well, I atempted to do another one shot, and this is what I got.

**Disclaimer:** Sonic is the property of SEGA, if I owned him the plot of each game would be a lot sadder and Eggman would no longer be the main villian for a while.

**Word count:** 1,063 words

**Warnings:** character death

"There's no other love like the love for a brother. There's no other love like the love from a brother." -Astrid Alauda

XoXoXoX

**No, Never Good-bye**

Here I am, before his grave. Why did it have to be him? What did he ever do to deserve death? He was a good kid, a great mechanic- no, not great, brilliant, the best there could be- and the greatest little brother I could ever have. I don't care if we weren't related by blood, as far as I'm concerned a brother is someone who likes you for who you are, looks up to you, helps you when you need it and you help him if he needs it, he laughs and has fun with you, and he is the person you know would protect you at any cost and someone you would protect at any cost. And… and he loves you. Not the type of girlfriend/boyfriend love, but the type of love only a brother could give. The type that never fades no matter how ofton you fight you know deep down you care for each other.

It was my fault, that's the worst part about this whole thing. I _couldn't _protect him. It should be _me_ in that coffin, six feet underground. Dang it, why couldn't have it been me?! If I had just pushed him out of the way of Egghead's robot's laser then he'd still be here. Yeah, I'd be dead, more likely than not, but at least I've lived my life. The kid -no, Sonic, it's Tails, stop trying to distance yourself from him by calling him that in hopes of feeling better, he's your _little_ _brother_ for crying out loud- never got to live beyond nine years old, he never got to be a teenager. He never got to experience growing up.

I sighed, the wind was blowing, rain was falling, was the world trying to make me feel guilty? Is it trying to tell me how to feel? The leaves blow against each other, and I could hear the rain beating against the ground and tree swaying. That's when I couldn't hold it in anymore; the mental barrier I had built up, one that I made to prevent me from crying broke and the floodgates opened. My legs gave way and I was on the ground, the grave was directly in front of me.

I cried.

Tails only saw me cry once before he died, and that was when he was in my arms and I was carrying him away from that place. I can still hear the sound of my fast feet colliding against the metal floor. During that time I had two things running through my mind, running almost as fast as I could go. One) Gotta get him out of here. Two) It's my fault. To be honest Egghead could go die in a hole, or, whatever he did in his spare time. My brother needed me; I refused to be too slow to save him, like I was when that laser was shot. Instead of doing anything I just froze up, I heard Tails yell my name, I saw the lazer charge up, and I froze. It was aimed right at him. Anything that was going through my mind had stopped and left. Part of me was still frozen when the lazer was shot only seconds later, part of me was running towards him, telling my legs to hurry up.

But I was too slow.

Me, too slow, never thought I'd be able to string those three words in a single sentence. Yeah, I've teased people about _them_ being too slow, but I never thought, that one day, the one who would be too slow, would be me.

The tears aren't stopping, and they aren't showing any signs of stopping soon. Why did it have to be him? Why not me? If I could go back, and change it… my gosh I sound like Shadow. Never thought that would happen either. Then again, nothing should surprise me at this point.

I still remember his last words. 'Don't cry, Sonic, it's not your fault.' It was like he knew I'd blame myself, but it _is_ my fault, if I had just been a little faster, if I hadn't stopped with my mind blank, than I could have saved him. I remember looking at him and saying that everything would be okay, he'd be fine. Course it was a lie, but I wanted so badly to believe it. He looked at me, and smiled, shaking his head. Then he told me 'Good-bye, Sonic the Hedgehog.'

That's when I stopped running entirely. I remember telling him "No, you'll be fine little bro. Besides, you don't have to say 'good-bye' just say 'see you later.' We'll see each other again. You won't die." Then in my mind seemed to whisper '_You can't_.'

Tails was smiling again and told me 'Alright then, see you later Sonic.' And he closed his eyes. I was yelling, telling him to stay awake, to stay with me, that he couldn't die on me, he couldn't leave me; I was telling him I was sorry, that it was all my fualt. He didn't move, he didn't make a sound, his heart wasn't beating, and he wasn't breathing.

He was gone.

So here I am, at his grave. I failed at being his hero, his brother. I was supposed to protect him, I should have done _something_ other than just stand there, stunned. But no, I didn't. And now my little brother's dead because of it. He said he didn't want me to cry… I tried not to, but it was the hardest thing I've ever tried in my life. "Bro, if you're out there and can hear me, I'm sorry." With that being said I looked at the grave one last time, stood up, and left, tears still falling down the sides of my face.

My name is Sonic the Hedgehog, and I lost not only my best friend in the world, but my little brother. But I refuse to say good-bye. I'll see him again someday, I know it. Until that day, Tails, I'll see you later.

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Well, that's all I got. Not my best work, but it's better then it could have been, I guess. Both Sonic and Tails felt a little out of character to me, though. Can you guys and gals tell me what you thought, are they out of character or not? Hope you enjoyed it either way.

Later,

Ember


End file.
